Blood tumor prediction using data mining techniques

Healthcare systems generate a huge data collected from medical tests. Data mining is the computing process of discovering patterns in large data sets such as medical examinations. Blood diseases are not an exception; there are many test data can be collected from their patients. In this paper, we applied data mining techniques to discover the relations between blood test characteristics and blood tumor in order to predict the disease in an early stage, which can be used to enhance the curing ability. We conducted experiments in our blood test dataset using three different data mining techniques which are association rules, rule induction and deep learning. The goal of our experiments is to generate models that can distinguish patients with normal blood disease from patients who have blood tumor. We evaluated our results using different metrics applied on real data collected from Gaza European hospital in Palestine. The final results showed that association rules could give us the relationship between blood test characteristics and blood tumor. Also, it demonstrated that deep learning classifiers has the best ability to predict tumor types of blood diseases with an accuracy of 79.45%. Also, rule induction gave us an explanation of rules that describes both tumor in blood and normal hematology

Synthesis and Characterization of Zno Nanoparticles Using Hydrothermal and Sol-Gel Techniques for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

في هذا البحث تم تخليق جسيمات نانوية نقية من أكسيد الزنك باستخدام طريقتي الهيدروثيرمال وطريقة الصول جل. من فحوصات حيود الاشعة السينية تبين أن متوسط حجم الحبيبة تتراوح بين من 25 الي 28 نانومتر وتاخذ شكلا كرويا. فحوصات طيف الامتصاص بينت أن العينات جميعها لها اعلي امتصاص في منطقة الاشعة الفوق بنفسجية. وتم حساب فجوة الطاقة للعينات فوجد انها تساوي 3.13 eV و3.16 eV للعينة التي حضرت بطريقة الهيدروثيرمال والصول جل على الترتيب. تم تحضير عينات لخلايا شمسية صبغية وتم استخدام 3 انواع من الاصباغ الكيمياءية كمتحسسات ضوئية. فحوصات الاشعة الفوق بنفسجية بينت ان صبغة الايوزين الاصفر   Eosin Yتعطي اعلي امتصاص مقارنة بالاصباغ المستخدمة الاخري. تم رسم منحني الخواص لجميع العينات للخلايا الشمسية المحضرة وتم حساب جميع البارامترات اللازمة لتقييم اداء الخلية. العينة المصبوغة بصبغةEosin Y اعطت اعلي كفاءة Jsc = 4.25 (mA/cm2)، Voc = 0.51 V and η=1.08 %ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) were synthesized using hydrothermal and sol-gel techniques using zinc acetate dihydrate (Zn (CH3COO)2.2H2O) as a row material and methanol as a solvent. The structural properties of ZnO NPs were studied using EDX, XRD, TEM, and the optical properties were characterized using UV-VIS and PL spectroscopies. The synthesized ZnO NPs showed high purity and revealed a wurtzite (hexagonal) crystal structure with particle size (D) ranged from 25 nm to 28 nm. The UV-VIS absorption spectra of ZnO NPs samples and sensitizing dyes were performed. The obtained ZnO NPs exhibited the direct optical bandgap 3.15 eV. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated using synthesized ZnO NPs as a semiconducting layer, which was dyed with different low cost dyes such as Eosin B (EB), Eosin Y (EY) and Rhodamine B (RB) that was used to sensitize the photoanode (ZnO NPs). The experimental results showed a significant efficiency for the fabricated DSSCs of synthesized ZnO NPs via sol gel technique comparing to hydrothermal technique. The EY dye exhibited the best performance among others, where a conversion efficiency showed a noteworthy improvement from 0.12 to 1.08 %

Influence of Metal Ion Doping of Zinc Oxide Photoanode on the Efficiency of Dye Sensitized Solar Cell

Doping zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) and doped with Niobium (Nb5+) and Aluminium (Al3+) ions were synthesized to use as a photoanode for the Dye Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs). The structural of the synthetized samples were examined via X-ray diffraction (XRD). The XRD patterns for all samples confirmed the hexagonal wurtzite structure. The DSSCs based on the undoped and doped ZnO NPs were fabricated and assembled. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) images were measured for all fabricated devices. The doping Nb5+ and Al3+ ions influenced the performance of the DSSCs. ZnO NPs doped Nb5+ led to higher surface area and hence more dye loading and retard the recombination of charges, which enhanced the open circuit voltage

Visible Light Photocatalytic Activity of Ag/WO3 Nanoparticles and its Antibacterial Activity Under Ambient Light and in The Dark

Nanomaterial such as metals and metal oxide photocatalysts have emerged as important tools for removing contaminants from wastewater and as antibacterial agents to prevent infections; this is mainly due to their stability under different irradiation conditions. Herein, the catalytic and antimicrobial activities of nanocrystalline silver (Ag), supported on tungsten oxide (WO3) nanoparticles prepared using the deposition-precipitation synthesis technique, are studied. The synthesized material was characterized as XRD, XPS, TEM, and TEM-EDS to investigate their physio-chemical properties. HRTEM, XPS analysis shows that the photocatalyst has a large sheet-like morphology with well-dispersed small metallic Ag particles (<3 nm) on the WO3 nanoparticle's surface, with most particles near the edges. Ultraviolet–visible spectra analysis observed a large redshift in the absorbing band edge and decreased bandgap energy from 2.6 to 2.1 eV. Photocatalytic analysis at different concentrations of 1% Ag/WO3 under visible light indicated a high degradation efficiency. The largest degradation efficiency of Methylene Blue (MB) under visible light irradiation was (∼80%) in 120 min at 1 g/L catalyst dosage. The photodegradation of MB under visible light as a function of catalyst dose followed the pseudo-first-order kinetics. In addition, the catalyst shows high degradation efficiency and significant dose-dependent inhibition of Gram-negative E. Coli and the Gram-positive S. aureus. Furthermore, the catalyst showed excellent stability and recyclability

Performance evaluation of novel fluorescent-based lateral immune flow assay (LIFA) for rapid detection and quantification of total anti-SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD binding antibodies in infected individuals.

The vast majority of the commercially available LFIA is used to detect SARS-CoV-2 antibodies qualitatively. Recently, a novel fluorescence-based LIFA test was developed for quantitative measurement of the total binding antibody units (BAU/mL) against the receptor-binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (S-RBD). To evaluate the performance of the fluorescence LIFA Finecare 2019-nCoV S-RBD test along with its reader (Model No.: FS-113). Plasma from 150 RT-PCR confirmed-positive individuals and 100 pre-pandemic samples were tested by FinCare to access sensitivity and specificity. For qualitative and quantitative validation of the FinCar measurements, the BAU/mL results of FinCare were compared with results of two reference assays: the surrogate virus-neutralizing test (sVNT, GenScript, USA), and the VIDAS®3 automated assay (BioMérieux, France). Finecare showed 92% sensitivity and 100% specificity compared to PCR. Cohen's Kappa statistic denoted moderate and excellent agreement with sVNT and VIDAS®3, ranging from 0.557 (95% CI: 0.32-0.78) to 0.731 (95% CI: 0.51-0.95), respectively. A strong correlation was observed between Finecare/sVNT (r=0.7, p<0.0001) and Finecare/VIDAS®3 (r=0.8, p<0.0001). Finecare is a reliable assay and can be used as a surrogate to assess binding and neutralizing antibody response post-infection or vaccination, particularly in none or small laboratory settings

Low risk of serological cross-reactivity between the dengue virus and SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies using advanced detection assays.

Several studies have reported serological cross-reactivity of the immune responses between SARS-CoV-2 and DENV. Most of the available studies are based on the point of care (POC) rapid testing kits. However, some rapid test kits have low specificity and can generate false positives. Hence, we aimed to investigate the potential serological cross-reactivity between SARS-CoV-2 and DENV IgG antibodies using advanced assays including chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) and ELISA test. A total of 90 DENV-IgG-ELISA positive and 90 negative pre-pandemic sera were tested for anti-SARS-CoV-2-IgG using the automated CL-900i CLIA assay. Furthermore, a total of 91 SARS-CoV-2-IgG-CLIA positive and 91 negative post-pandemic sera were tested for anti-DENV-IgG using the Novalisa ELISA assay. The DENV-IgG positive sera resulted in five positives and 85 negatives for SARS-CoV-2-IgG. Similarly, the DENV-IgG negative sera also resulted in five positives and 85 negatives for SARS-CoV-2-IgG. No statistically significant difference in specificity between the DENV-IgG positive and DENV-IgG negative sera was found (p-value=1.00). The SARS-CoV-2-IgG positive sera displayed 43 positives, 47 negatives, and one equivocal for DENV-IgG. Whereas the SARS-CoV-2-IgG negative sera resulted in 50 positives, 40 negatives, and one equivocal for DENV-IgG. No statistically significant difference in the proportion that is DENV-IgG positive between the SARS-CoV-2-IgG positive and SARS-CoV-2-IgG negative sera (p-value=0.58). In conclusion, there is a low risk of serological cross-reactivity between the DENV, and SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies when using advanced detection assays.  .L.J.A. acknowledges the support of the Biomedical Research Program and the Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Biomathematics Research Core, both at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar. This work was made possible by Grant Nos. RRC-2-032 and UREP19-013-3-001 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors. In addition, G.K.N. would also like to acknowledge funds from Qatar University’s internal Grant QUERG-CMED-2020-2

Comparison of antibody immune responses between BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in naïve and previously infected individuals.

Two mRNA vaccines, Pfizer-BNT162b2 and Moderna-mRNA-1273, obtained the Emergency Use Listing by WHO for preventing COVID-19. However, little is known about the difference in antibody responses induced by these two mRNA vaccines in naïve and previously infected (PI) individuals. We investigated the levels of anti-S-RBD (total, IgG and IgA) levels in naïve and PI individuals, 1-13 (median = 6) weeks following the second dose of either vaccine. Results in the naïve-vaccinated group, the mRNA-1273 vaccine induced significantly higher levels of anti-S-RBD total antibodies (3.5-fold; P < 0.001), IgG (2-fold, P < 0.01) and IgA (2.1-fold, P < 0.001) as compared with the BNT162b2 vaccine. In addition, both vaccines produced significantly higher anti-S-RBD total antibody levels in the PI-group compared with naïve-vaccinated group. The PI group elicited a higher level of anti-S-RBD IgG than the naïve-BNT162b2 (P = 0.05), but not more than the naïve-mRNA-1273 (P = 0.9) group. Interestingly, the PI vaccinated group elicited a comparable level of IgA ratio to the naïve-mRNA-1273 group but significantly higher than the naïve-BNT162b2 group (1.6-fold, P < 0.001). Our results showed that the PI-vaccinated group produces a higher level of antibodies than the naïve vaccinated group, particularly for those vaccinated with BNT162b2

Neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 are higher but decline faster in mRNA vaccinees compared to individuals with natural infection.

Waning protection against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants by pre-existing antibodies elicited due to current vaccination or natural infection is a global concern. Whether this is due to the waning of immunity to SARS-COV-2 remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the dynamics of antibody isotype responses among vaccinated naïve (VN) and naturally infected (NI) individuals. We followed up antibody levels in COVID-19 mRNA-vaccinated subjects without prior infection (VN, n = 100) in two phases: phase-I (P-I) at ~ 1.4 and phase-II (P-II) at ~ 5.3 months. Antibody levels were compared to those of unvaccinated and naturally infected subjects (NI, n = 40) at ~ 1.7 (P-1) and 5.2 (P-II) months post-infection. Neutralizing antibodies (NTAb), anti-S-RBD-IgG, -IgM, and anti-S-IgA isotypes were measured. The VN group elicited significantly greater antibody responses (p < 0.001) than the NI group at P-I, except for IgM. In the VN group, a significant waning in antibody response was observed in all isotypes. There was about ~ a 4-fold decline in NTAb levels (p < 0.001), anti-S-RBD-IgG (~5-folds, p < 0.001), anti-S-RBD-IgM (~6-folds, p < 0.001), and anti-S1-IgA (2-folds, p < 0.001). In the NI group, a significant but less steady decline was notable in S-RBD-IgM (~2-folds, p < 0.001), and a much smaller but significant difference in NTAb (<2-folds, p < 0.001) anti-S-RBD IgG (<2-folds, p = 0.005). Unlike the VN group, the NI group mounted a lasting anti-S1-IgA response with no significant decline. Anti-S1-IgA, which were ~ 3 folds higher in VN subjects compared to NI in P-1 (p < 0.001), dropped to almost the same levels, with no significant difference observed between the two groups in P-II. While double-dose mRNA vaccination boosted antibody levels, vaccinated individuals' 'boost' was relatively short-lived.This work was made possible by WHO grant numbers COVID-19-22-43 and UREP28–173–3-057 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors

Diagnostic Efficiency of Three Fully Automated Serology Assays and Their Correlation with a Novel Surrogate Virus Neutralization Test in Symptomatic and Asymptomatic SARS-COV-2 Individuals

Abstract: To support the deployment of serology assays for population screening during the COVID-19 pandemic, we compared the performance of three fully automated SARS-CoV-2 IgG assays: Mindray CL-900i® (target: spike [S] and nucleocapsid [N]), BioMérieux VIDAS®3 (target: receptor-binding domain [RBD]) and Diasorin LIAISON®XL (target: S1 and S2 subunits). A total of 111 SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR- positive samples collected at ≥ 21 days post symptom onset, and 127 prepandemic control samples were included. Diagnostic performance was assessed in correlation to RT-PCR and a surrogate virus-neutralizing test (sVNT). Moreover, cross-reactivity with other viral antibodies was investigated. Compared to RT-PCR, LIAISON®XL showed the highest overall specificity (100%), followed by VIDAS®3 (98.4%) and CL-900i® (95.3%). The highest sensitivity was demonstrated by CL-900i® (90.1%), followed by VIDAS®3 (88.3%) and LIAISON®XL (85.6%). The sensitivity of all assays was higher in symptomatic patients (91.1–98.2%) compared to asymptomatic patients (78.4–80.4%). In correlation to sVNT, all assays showed excellent sensitivities (92.2–96.1%). In addition, VIDAS®3 demonstrated the best correlation (r = 0.75) with the sVNT. The present study provides insights on the performance of three fully automated assays, which could help diagnostic laboratories in the choice of a particular assay according to the intended us

Performance evaluation of five ELISA kits for detecting anti-SARS-COV-2 IgG antibodies

ObjectivesTo evaluate and compare the performances of five commercial ELISA assays (EDI, AnshLabs, Dia.Pro, NovaTec, and Lionex) for detecting anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG. Methods70 negative control samples (collected before the COVID-19 pandemic) and samples from 101 RT-PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 patients (collected at different time points from symptoms onset: ≤7, 8-14, and >14 days) were used to compare the sensitivity, specificity, agreement, positive and negative predictive values of each assay with RT-PCR. A concordance assessment between the five assays was also conducted. Cross-reactivity with other HCoV, non-HCoV respiratory viruses, non-respiratory viruses, and nuclear antigens was investigated. ResultsLionex showed the highest specificity (98.6%, 95%CI: 92.3-99.8), followed by EDI and Dia.Pro (97.1%, 95%CI: 90.2-99.2), NovaTec (85.7%, 95%CI: 75.7-92.1), then AnshLabs (75.7%, 95%CI: 64.5-84.2). All ELISA kits cross-reacted with one anti-MERS IgG positive sample except Lionex. The sensitivity was low during the early stages of the disease but improved over time. After 14 days from symptoms onset, Lionex and NovaTec showed the highest sensitivity at 87.9% (95%CI: 72.7-95.2) and 86.4% (95%CI: 78.5-91.7), respectively. The agreement with RT-PCR results based on Cohen’s kappa was as follows: Lionex (0.89)> NovaTec (0.70)> Dia.Pro (0.69)> AnshLabs (0.63)> EDI (0.55). ConclusionThe Lionex ELISA, which measures antibodies solely to the S1 protein, demonstrated the best performance.This work was made possible by grant No. RRC-2-032 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors. GKN would like to acknowledge funds from Qatar University's internal grant QUERG-CMED-2020-2